Defining Excellence in Recruitment: A Call for Industry-Wide Collaboration

As I relaxed on vacation recently, my mind drifted back to one of the recurring challenges we face at SocialTalent. I know – my brain can’t shut off and spoiler, I wasn’t lying on a beach, I was going for a run in 90 degree heat, but hey, that’s how my brain relaxes! Back to the challenge: it’s one that our customers, partners, and even competitors grapple with on an on-going basis:

How do you measure the quality and comprehensiveness of a recruitment training program when there is no industry-wide standard to compare it against?

Imagine, for a moment, that you want to become an accountant. You know exactly what you need to do: find an educational provider that offers a curriculum approved by a governing body, with courses designed to cover the essential knowledge required for the role. There’s a set bar that every provider must meet. Now, think about recruitment. Is there a universally accepted curriculum that defines what a recruiter must know? Unfortunately, the answer is no.

This lack of an agreed-upon body of knowledge in recruitment makes it difficult for organizations to determine whether their teams are equipped with the necessary skills to excel in their roles. In the absence of such a standard, every company, including SocialTalent, is left to define its own curriculum, hoping that it covers all the bases. But how do we know if we’ve included everything a recruiter needs to know? How does a buyer compare one training provider against another?

The Need for a Defined Curriculum

To address this issue, I recently began drafting what I believe could become the foundation of a standard curriculum for recruiters. This curriculum isn’t meant to be exhaustive or perfect by any means – it’s a starting point, a rough draft intended to spark conversation and invite feedback from the recruitment community.

The curriculum I’ve sketched out includes a mix of general skills, process-specific knowledge, and function-specific expertise. For example, there are general skills like using AI in recruiting, planning and organizing, and understanding candidate experience that likely apply to all or most roles in recruitment, regardless of your specific focus. Then there’s the process list, which covers the various stages of recruitment – from sourcing and talent attraction to interviewing, assessing, and finally, closing the deal with an offer. These are the steps that collectively as a team, we must organize and master.

But recruitment is not a one-size-fits-all profession. Just as a marketing team has specialists in areas like SEO, content writing, or digital advertising, a recruitment team may have individuals who specialize in different stages of the hiring process or in different types of hiring altogether. For instance, some recruiters may focus on executive hiring, while others may be experts in early-in-career recruitment or volume hiring. Each of these specializations requires a different set of skills and knowledge.

A Call to the Industry

At SocialTalent, we believe that we’re well-positioned to lead the conversation about defining a curriculum for recruiters. We’ve trained more recruiters globally than any other provider, working with over 100 of the best experts in the field. But we don’t want to do this in isolation. We want input from the broader industry, from our customers, from other training providers, and from anyone who has a stake in the future of recruitment.

So, I’m putting this draft curriculum out there, warts and all, and asking for your feedback. What are we missing? Is there anything on the list that shouldn’t be there? How would you group these skills differently? This is more than just a casual request for input; it’s an invitation to collaborate on something that could have a lasting impact on our profession.

The goal is to refine this curriculum over the next few months and, by the end of the year, publish a more polished version that reflects the collective wisdom of our industry.

The Bigger Picture

Why is this so important? Because without an agreed-upon list of skills and knowledge, it becomes trickier and trickier to build effective enablement programs for recruiters. If you’re a business leader, how do you know what “excellence” in recruitment looks like? How do you measure your team’s capabilities? How do you ensure that your recruiters are equipped to be the best in the world at what they do?

This is a problem that has real-world consequences. Recruitment is a profession with no formal barrier to entry. While this openness allows for a wonderful diversity of backgrounds and experiences (which is one of the unique strengths of this industry, in my opinion) it also means that there’s no consistent baseline of knowledge or skills.

Moving Forward

As we work to refine this curriculum, we’re also thinking ahead to how it could be used in practice. Imagine a world where every recruiter has access to a clear, structured path for professional development, where they can assess their skills, identify gaps, and follow a tailored learning path to fill those gaps. This is the future we envision at SocialTalent, and this curriculum list is the first step toward making it a reality.

But we can’t do it alone. We need your help to define what this curriculum could and should look like. So, I’m asking you to take a look at the draft list I’ve included and share your thoughts. What do you think recruiters need to know? How can we best prepare the next generation of talent professionals for the challenges ahead? Your feedback will help shape the future of recruitment training. Let’s define excellence together!

This article originally appeared in Johnny Campbell’s Talent Leadership Insights LinkedIn newsletter. Click here to subscribe!